Pollution control: ‘Pollution control orders issued to 149 factories’

Cases against 77 others are under trial with the Environment Tribunal .

LAHORE:

Environment protection orders have been issued to 149 factories found using rubber tyres and coal as fuel, Akmal Saif Chatha, parliamentary secretary for Environment Protection Department, told the Punjab Assembly during the questions hour on Monday.

He said cases against another 90 factories had been referred to the Environment Tribunal. Of these, he said, 77 were still pending a hearing.

Chatha was responding to members’ queries about high levels of pollutions in their constituencies.

He said a campaign to control air pollution was underway in Sahiwal district in collaboration with the Traffic Police. He said more than 1,000 vehicles had so far been checked in the district and fines worth around Rs 700,000 imposed on the owners whose vehicles were found lacking in the requirements set by the government for control of air pollution.

Chatha assured opposition member Ehsan Riaz Fatyana that the government was taking action against factories involved in dumping their untreated waste in the Samundri drain. He said 20 such factories had so far been identified. Of these, he said, eight had already been notified about the violation of the law.

Chatha said a filtration plant was being set up in the district at a cost of Rs53.3 million in order to ensure availability of safe drinking water.

Matters pertaining to the Archeology, Youth Affairs, Sports, and Tourism Departments were also discussed during the questions hour.

Parliamentary secretary Chauhdry Sarfraz Afzal assured the House that no construction was allowed within 200 feet from any historical site in the province. He said strict action was being taken against those found violating the rule.

Child marriage, second marriage amendment bills be refered to CIC

Earlier, Dr Waseem Akhtar objected to the passage of several bills during Friday’s session without committee deliberation on them. He singled out amendments to the laws pertaining to restraint on child marriages and second marriages and said that he feared that these were in violation of Islamic teachings. He said these amendments should be sent to Council of Islamic Ideology before sending them to the governor. “I will see to it that they are not made into a law if they violate teachings of Islam,” he said.

Deputy Speaker Sher Ali Gorchani assured Akhtar that no law that violated Islamic principles would be passed by the House. He asked him to consult the ministers concerned and discuss his reservations with them.

The session ended without completing of the agenda for the day after opposition member Ehsan Riaz Fatyana pointed out the quorum. The agenda items that could not taken up on Monday included introduction of the University of Jhang Bill of 2015 and presentation of audit reports for several departments.

The session has been prorogued for an indefinite period.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2015.